Atheist church in London a runaway success amongst non-believers

New York, Feb. 8 (ANI): A 'church' In London - The Sunday Assembly - offers monthly services in north London for atheists and nonbelievers.

The Sunday Assembly- a brainchild of stand-up comedians Pippa Evans and Sanderson Jones- is a congregation for atheists and nonbelievers started in January. It is drawing overflowing crowds to its monthly services at the Nave, a deconsecrated church in the northern part of the city, reports New York Daily News.

Evans said they were expecting about 20 people to turn up, but were amazed when 200 people turned up on the first day. The number swelled to 300 for the second, forcing the church to send more than two dozen people to a bar around the corner to catch a live computer feed of the proceedings.

Evans said the idea is about keeping a center of community for those who are losing their religious faith.

The gatherings themselves are not unlike something one finds at regular church, but a bit more rollicking in temperament. At the first two meetings, guest speakers have included a children's author, and physicist Harry Cliff, who, along with other researchers at Switzerland's CERN Large Hadron Collider, helped in the discovery of Higgs boson, the so-called "God Particle".

The duo came up with the idea of The Sunday Assembly while driving to a comedy show together.

While the congregation is made up primarily of non-believers, Evans says the focus of the services is in no way to demean people of faith.

Jones said he and Evans will add a second service each month, and he is working on setting up a YouTube channel so that the atheist services can be viewed around the world. The Sunday Assembly's website also features a page for those who would like to start up congregations in their own home towns. (ANI)